Holy Scriptures and Israel

Gideon Levytam: Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith.

And now, teaching God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.

Gideon Levytam: Shabbat Shalom. We will open our Bibles today to the Epistle of First John. Today we are in First John, chapter 4, and we are going to begin from verse 17 into chapter 5 and verse 5.

Yohanan, the Hebrew apostle, is writing to Mishpachat Elohim, to the family of God, and he is continuing to deliberate that important subject of love, of ahava, as we say this in Hebrew.

The love of God is so important, not only that we receive the love of God, but also to communicate this with each other. And today in this ministry meeting, we are going to speak about that true love is fearless and submissive.

And so, Yohanan, that is John, is continuing to speak about this, and he began here from verse 17. And he says, listen to this, beloved brothers and sisters. He says, here is our love made perfect. That we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear. Because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us.

If a man says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he had not seen?

And this commandment have we from him, that he who loves God love his brother also. Chapter 5, and verse 1. Whosoever believes that Yeshua is the Messiah is born of God. And everyone that loves him that begets, loves him also that is begotten of him.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.

For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world? But he that believes that Yeshua is the Son of God.

This is the end of the portion of the reading for today. Beloved brothers and sisters, John, though he talks a lot about love in his first epistle, there's a lot of doctrine and teaching that is found here in the text that we have read today.

And it is very important for every one of us, beloved brothers and sisters, to know doctrine, to know teaching. It's not enough just to talk about love without to understand doctrine, doctrinal teaching that we have in the Word of God. I mentioned this before, that we are linked with Yeshua the Messiah in twofold links.

There is the link of union, and there is a link of communion. The link of union is once and for all, it is a positional relationship that we have in the person of Yeshua the Messiah, that is no one can ever separate from the child of God.

But where the link of communion, that is where we fail much as believers. And that's why Yohanan, that is John, the apostle is really speaking to the Mishpacha, the family of God, and he wants to instruct them, to help them to understand these fundamentals that are found in the Word of God, and it's very helpful for us to grasp it in our learning of the Word of God.

Well, John now is pointing to a test of true love for God. You see, how do we know that we are walking with the Lord and enjoying the things of the Lord? What is the evidence in our own life to really prove to ourselves, to others that we are really enjoying our relationship with God, with our Lord Jesus the Messiah?

So, just in a previous verses that we have read, John said, God is love. You remember that? First John chapter 4 verse 8. God is love. He that loves not, knows not God. Why? Because God is love.

Then the last verse in our ministry meeting that we have had in our previous meeting together, in verse 16, he said, and we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love, and he that dwells in love, dwells in God, and God in him. In other words, because God in his essence, he is love, and therefore the people who dwell and enjoy him, it will be evident in their own life.

And so now he continues and he's really dwelling upon the important fact that how do we test in a practical way, in our life, what is really our true love towards the Lord, and true enjoyment of the fact that God is love. And so he gives us really four points that he highlight for the family of God to understand it. Well, the first point that I would like to mention here in First John 4 verses 17, 18, and 19, it is important. Here is a doctrinal truth that we have to grasp.

Every believer should grow in boldness, in confidence in our life, in the fact that we have enjoyed the love of God towards us. Notice he says in verse 17, that a believer in Yeshua the Messiah need not to be afraid of judgment.

And look what he says. Here is our love made perfect, or mature, in that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Why? Because as he is, so are we in this world.

You see, this is a very important verse that we must grasp. Every one will have to stand in judgment before the Lord one day. We know from Hebrews chapter 9 that every person must be one day stand before the living God. As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. The writer of the book of Hebrews said to the Hebrew believers of first century.

Every person in this universe will have one day to stand before God, and if he is not saved, if he or she are not belonging to Yeshua the Messiah, they're going to have to face the judgment because of their sin nature and their sins that they have committed.

But he's speaking to the family of God, to those that have already embraced Yeshua as their Messiah and Lord and Savior. And he says, here is our love is made perfect or mature in that we may have boldness. When we're going to have boldness? In the day of judgment.

Now, there are more than two judgments that we have in Scripture, but two judgments that are clearly awaiting the human race. The first one is called, according to Second Corinthian 5:10, the judgment seat of the Messiah, of the Messiah.

Paul said, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah. The judgment seat of the Messiah is only for believers. And there at the judgment seat of the Messiah, we are not going to be judged for our sins, but we will be judged for our works, how did we live our lives as believers in Yeshua the Messiah from the day that we have accepted him until the day that we left this world?

And everyone, that all are all believers. The writer said, for we must all, we, me and you, all believers must appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah. There Yeshua is going to evaluate our lives as believers.

That's going to happen, by the way, after the rapture of the church, before the tribulation period. All of us who are believers in Yeshua are going to be taken out of here, and we're going to be at the judgment seat of the Messiah, and then he's going to reward us for that which we have done for our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And whatever we didn't do for Yeshua the Messiah, and all of us know very well how often time we have dishonor him as believers, all going to be burnt and set aside completely.

But there's another judgment, and that's called the Great White Throne Judgment, found in Revelation chapter 20. There, beloved brothers and sisters, all unbelievers going to have to appear at the Great White Throne Judgment.

And it's not a matter of evaluating the works of those who are going to stand there before the Messiah, the judge. There, their question going to be asked, what have you done with Yeshua the Messiah? Have you accepted him as your Lord and Savior and Messiah? Have you confessed your sins? Have you invited him into your own hearts? Are your sins been dealt with?

And everyone that is going to be standing before the judge at the Great White Throne Judgment, going to be cast into the lake of fire, because they have refused to accept him as their Lord and Savior.

Now, you see what the Apostle Yohanan John is saying here, that every believer now, because we are part of the Mishpacha of the family of God, we need now to grow in confidence and in boldness because what's going to happen in the day of judgment, we are going to be there, and we know very well that all our sins have been dealt with once and for all, when we have accepted Yeshua the Messiah.

You see, the believer needs to understand that he or she now are not condemned at all because we took side with the Messiah. For example, I give you Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, the Apostle Paul says to the Roman believers, there is therefore now no condemnation for them which are in the Messiah Yeshua, in Christ Jesus.

When God looks at the believer, he cannot condemn us anymore because our sins have been already judged when Yeshua died for us on the cross. If he will judge us again, he must judge the Messiah again.

And he died once, never anymore to repeat this. And so we see what happens sometimes, brothers and sisters, there are believers who know Yeshua the Messiah as their Lord and Savior, but because they are not enjoying the love of God in their lives, they don't have this confidence, or boldness, you might say, or growth in their life, to understand that really God will not judge them a second time because their sins have been judged already when Yeshua the Messiah have died for them on the tree.

Look what Yeshua said in John 5 and verse 24. This is why doctrine is very important for every person to grasp. Yeshua is saying, verily, verily I say unto you, he that hears my word and believes on him that sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.

You see, so what's happened when we are enjoying God's love in our life, we grow, and that's why you notice First John 4 and verse 17, it said, here is our love made mature, or made perfect, or mature and grow, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. In other words, what he's saying to the believers, to the family of God, to the children of God, he says, listen, you have to grow in your love towards the Lord and appreciation of his love for you.

And to have this knowledge in your life that when I'm going to stand before God one day, I will never anymore have to face the sin question because once and for all, Yeshua the Messiah paid for that.

And how do we able to appreciate it? You know, don't you feel sometime that when we dishonor the Lord and we sinned against the Lord, and we have this sense of heaviness, we have this sense of unworthiness. And we say, Lord, I messed it again. I dishonored you again. And we know it's wrong.

The important thing is to confess it, First John 1:9, and to forsake it, so we can have fellowship with God and continue to mature and grow and realize that all the sins of the past, all the sins of the future that I will commit, and all the sins of the presence, all have been once and for all dealt by the finished work that Yeshua have accomplished for us on the tree. And that's how we mature every day as we are walking with the Lord, enjoying, not even our love for him, but his love for us.

The proof of his love for us is when he was nailed to the cross 2,000 years ago. The just one for me, the unjust one, for you, the unjust one. That's why Yohanan is saying, here is our love. Notice, our love made perfect. Our love is mature. And the word for perfect is really the Greek word to mature, to grow, to develop.

And he says, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Why? Because as he is, so are we in this world. In other words, listen, when Yeshua finished the work on the tree, God had been so satisfied that he placed him at the pinnacle of the universe, and he says to him, for every work that you have done, every one that trusts in you, his or her sins are totally removed.

As he is, so are we right now in this world, accepted in the beloved. Accepted because of the work that he have done for us, beloved brothers and sisters. Sometimes I hear of those people who belong to the Lord and confess that they belong to Yeshua the Messiah, but they have this constant lack of assurance that their sins are totally forgiven.

They are not sure if they are really saved. So they are not growing in appreciation of the love of God towards them. In other words, they are really saying to God, really God, the work of Yeshua the Messiah is not sufficient. I'm not sure if what he have done is satisfactory.

And you see, instead of trusting in the work of the Messiah, they trust in themselves and their ability to keep themselves saved. And that's wrong. We are not able to keep ourselves saved because the moment we leave this meeting, and we go out and we fail in sin, every sin demands judgment.

Look at what he says in Ephesians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul says in verse 5 and 6, having predestinated us unto adoption of the children by Yeshua the Messiah to himself, according to his good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he made us accepted in the beloved.

We are not accepted in ourselves, but we are accepted in the beloved. As he is, so are we in this world. God have accepted his work and we are accepted in him.

Now, it's so beautiful to see a believer that enjoying the love of God in his or her life, and it's shining out in the relationship to others, and they communicate this with others. They are not condoning sin, not at all. Paul says, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Of course not. But they are appreciative of the love of God, which fully and completely have done away with all the sin question once and for all. We have been accepted in the beloved. Just one more verse I want to read as well. Paul also writing in Colossian chapter 1 and verse 12. He said, giving thanks unto the Father, which had made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who had delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us unto the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

Listen, we either have redemption or we don't have redemption. We are either in or we out. We are either saved or we lost. We are either going to heaven or we going to hell. There is no in between.

This is important, beloved brothers and sisters to understand. So every believer should grow in his confidence that when we are going to stand one day before the Lord, we have no fear of judgment anymore because of the love of God through Yeshua the Messiah made us suitable, made us accepted in the beloved. As he is, so are we in this world. Accepted.

Now verse 18, he continues Yohanan to tell them, God's perfect love cast us out fear. And you notice what he's saying here, and I I want to elaborate here a little bit about this, because it says in verse 18, there is no fear in love, but perfect love cast us out fear, because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, this again doctrine. This is teaching. Perfect love casts out fear.

Not your perfect love or my perfect love. We don't have perfect love. You see, our love towards him is very whiny. One day we love him more, the next day we love him less. Our love towards each other is also whiny. One day we like you, the other day we don't love you anymore.

But God's love is a perfect, perfect love. There is no greater love than the love of God. There is no greater love when he proved it, when he sent his Son Yeshua the Messiah. So that perfect love ought to cast out fear.

Now the Hebrew word for fear is pachad. When a person has to be afraid of standing before God, he or she know that they are not right with God. You see, why people afraid of death? Because naturally speaking, we all by nature afraid of death. Why? Because we know when we die, we are not sure about what's going to happen after death.

And that's why people, human beings, they are often try to cover their fear, to appease God by doing all sort of things. For example, the first time that we find fear is found in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve sinned.

What did Adam do immediately in his wife? They feared God, they hide. They hide behind the trees there, and they even covered themselves, and they began to pretend as if everything okay. They are not naked, they are okay. You see, they cover themselves with fig leaves. That's how it began, right? In the Garden of Eden, when sin came into this world, when Chet had come into this world. But you see what happened, the perfect love of God take away fear.

You see, there is a difference between pachad, to be afraid, and yira, to have the fear of God. In Proverbs chapter 1 and verse 7, we read the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. That is a reverential fear. That is an honor to God.

But the believer in Yeshua the Messiah, when his or her sins have been dealt once and for all, there is no need to be afraid because it says, there is no fear in love. God loves us to such an extent that he doesn't want us to have this fear from him because perfect love cast away fear.

We don't need to be afraid of God because God become our Abba, our Father. And he loves us so much. He doesn't condone our sins. For this he judged the Messiah, the Messiah Yeshua.

But he loves us to the extent that he dealt with this question of sin, and he wants us to respond to him. Now you notice what it says in verse 18B, it says because fear has torment. Now I have enjoyed explanation of another.

You see, there is a difference between torment and torture. I don't know if you have seen just recently what we heard on the television, how they have burned alive a man, a pilot. How evil men is that he's able to torture.

Torture has to do with physical suffering. But torment, it doesn't have to do with the physical suffering, but it has to do with the sufferings of the mind. Just the thinking. You know, sometimes when we are afraid of something, we don't have torment on our body. We don't have torture in our body, but we have torment in our mind. We are afraid, what's going to happen?

And we sweat at night. And we feel so bad because we have these thoughts, the thinking, that tormenting us. So there's a difference between torment and torture. In Hebrew, it's Anui, to do evil things to the body, to burn a person alive. This is not torment, this is torture.

So what he is really saying here, because fear has torment. You see, what happened when we are afraid of judgment or something, we began to think, we have a suffering of the mind.

By the way, that word for torment is the Greek word kolasis, K-O-L-A-S-I-S, in the biblical text, which speaks of the word for punishment. It is used only twice in the New Testament. The first time it is used in the Gospel of Matthew, and the second time it is used in First John chapter 4 and verse 19. And I want you to go to Matthew, please, chapter 25 with me back to the Gospel of Matthew where Yeshua was speaking in connection with the tribulation period, and what's going to happen for those who are unbelievers when they're going to die without their sins forgiven.

Matthew chapter 25, John said there in verse 46, this is the last verse of chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew. These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. That word for punishment is the same word for torment in First John chapter 4 and verse 18.

In other words, when someone is afraid, this means because his thoughts, and his mind is afraid of consequences. But he says here in verse 18, there is no fear in God's love. The perfect love of God, casting away all fear. We don't need to be afraid when we're going to stand before God because our sins have been dealt with once and for all. And then he says, fear has torment.

Gideon Levytam: You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM, and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, Shalom.